Fundraising Photo Tips!

Nothing brings fundraising pages to life better than photos. Why just tell your story when you can show your donors exactly what you’re doing with bright, beautiful images. You can show the smiling faces of your volunteers, capture the excitement of a big event, or share your project’s impact. Plus, photos are instantly shareable, meaning that your project has a better shot at getting views and likes on social media. So, let’s get you started taking some great photos! Here are our Four Photo F’s — some easy fundraising photo tips and tricks you can use to bring your fundraising pages to life.

Fire Up That Smartphone

Remember you probably have a fantastic camera right in your pocket. Your iPhone or Android photo can capture some really great photos. Just make sure you know how to use all of its features (like focus, flash, night mode, etc.). If you have a dedicated digital camera, even better. These cameras will often get better, brighter shots, especially at nighttime.

Frame and Focus

Whether you’re on your iPhone or behind a fancy camera, the key to taking awesome pictures is setting up the perfect shot. Select your subject (a person, object, or activity) and make sure you have a dynamic, colorful background. Then, frame your subject (see image to the right), making sure your subject is off to one side and not completely centered. Here’s a super easy photography tutorial that will help guide you. Also, remember to shoot with bright light behind you, otherwise your photos will get washed out or lost in shadows. Finally, before you shoot, make sure the shot is clear and in focus. You can edit a lot of things after you shoot, but blurry shots are hard to fix.

Filters and Fun

Once you’ve got your shots, you can add some filters to give your pictures a little extra polish. Phone apps like Instagram and Snapseed make it easy to play with different filters that can make your photos seem more serious, dramatic, playful, or energized. Be careful not to go overboard. Too many filters or effects can make your photos look unnatural.

Find the Right Image:

Now that you have some great photos, edit them down, and select only the best ones for your page. Ask yourself what you want to say with your pictures. Do you want to show smiling faces? Your volunteers helping? A specific section of a beautification project? A team leader receiving an award? It’s your choice, but make sure all of your photos make a specific statement.

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With these four easy fundraising photo tips, you’ll add a whole new layer of rich, visual energy to your fundraising pages that will engage all of your donors. Plus, you’ll have fantastic photos that you can use other places, too — like social media, email newsletters, printed materials and more!

We hope you enjoyed these fundraising photo tips and can’t wait to see your wonderful photography on your fundraising page!

Don’t have a fundraising page yet? You can start your free fundraiser here.